Alone
by Starryoak
Summary: Mike's won the million... But lost four friends. How can he live without the four people he's lived with for his whole life?


"Hey, guys?" It was a couple hours after the sinking of Wawahnakwa Island, and everyone was there, including those who had been trapped in the balloons, Chris having been not totally evil and given them parachutes, and sent for rescue boats. The non contestants who hadn't competed that season welcomed the all stars back to the Playa De Losers (on the TDA set) and everything was just settling down from the chaos, couples reunited were hugging each other, glad to be alive, and notably, Courtney was checking their contracts for a way around the 'Chris McLean, Total Drama, and any subsidiary or employee of Teletoon and Fresh Tv incorporated are in no way responsible for any damage, death, or mental harm received by anyone under these contracts ' clause. Her frequent muttering and swearing seemed to indicate it was not going so well. Zoey, however, was searching for her boyfriend, who despite winning a million dollars, was not celebrating, and was in fact nowhere to be found. "Mike? Has anyone seen Mike?" She called, walking over to Cameron, still in his bubble, chatting with Cody and Sierra  
"I haven't seen Mike since we got here." Cameron said, gesturing around him with his good arm. "I was sure he was with you."  
"I can't believe the island sunk!" Cody said. "I mean, it's a terrible place, but I'm kind of missing it now." He sighed.  
"I can't believe Mike defeated Mal!" Sierra squealed. "Once the episode officially airs, fans are going to flip! Mal was a total fan favorite among the girls." She shrugged. "No accounting for taste, right, Cody-bear?" Sierra swooned at Cody, who was stuffing his face with candy.  
"Yeah, uhuh, yeah." Cody said, clearly lost in his sugar rush. Sierra didn't seem to notice, however, and smiled. When Cody was finished, he looked at Zoey apologetically. "Sorry Zoey, I havent seen him since he ran off to his room. He seemed pretty upset for a guy who won a million bucks."  
"Mike was upset?" Zoey gasped, running off towards the contestants rooms.

"Hello, anyone?" Mike whispered, clutching his legs as he sat on his bed, in the fetal position, shivering. He felt like he couldn't escape the memories, couldn't escape the fact that he was alone. Forever this time. No triggers would work, no matter how hard he tried. He knew it was a lost cause, but he couldn't accept that. His alters-no, his friends, were dead and gone, and it was his fault. He pushed that damned reset button. He killed them, and now he was being rewarded for it. "I wish I never even won you!" He kicked at the briefcase full of money lying beside him, stubbing his toe, he cried out in pain and rubbed his foot. "Huh, Chester would have loved to complain about that." He smiled ruefully, eyes wet.  
"Mike!" Zoey burst into the room, startling Mike and making him recoil defensively. "What's wrong?"  
"Oh, he-hey Zoey." He said, stuttering, blinking away the tears in his eyes. No reason that she had to know he had killed five people today, even if they were just parts of him. "Nothing's wrong!" He said nervously, not having the energy to chuckle at that moment.  
"I don't buy that." Zoey said. "Mal might have been able to trick me, but I'm a lot better at reading Mike than he thought I was." She folded her arms, taking on a scornful, motherly look. "Let me ask again: What's. Wrong."  
"I don't want to talk about it." Mike shied away as Zoey sat close to him, putting her arms around his chest, Mike gasped, but not in his usual 'Im switching' way. This was a gasp of fear, not wanting to be touched there. She pulled away when she realized he was uncomfortable.  
"Oh no, Mike, did you bruise up there?" She asked, reaching to pull up his shirt to look.  
"Nononono!" Mike pushed her away violently and pulled down his shirt. "I just don't want to be touched there."  
"Mike, you said that you were all you now..." Zoey said, confused and slightly hurt. "Vito's gone then."  
"It's not that..." Mike sighed. "I just don't like my chest being touched. Bad memories." He said, rubbing his arm ruefully, reminded of Vito and why he was there.  
"Oh..." Zoey said, pausing. "Oh!" It dawned on her what he might have meant. "Oh Mike, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up anything you don't want to talk about." Zoey placed a hand on his shoulder. Mike placed his hands on hers as well. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here. But it's ok if you don't." She smiled.  
"No thanks, I'm okay now." Mike sighed. "You know how I said I was all Mike?" She nodded. "Well, I defeated Mal. But..." He paused, a lump in his throat. "My other personalities. They-they..." He said, trying not to turn into a blubbering wreck in front of his girlfriend. "We-we pushed the reset button."  
"The what?" Zoey asked nervously.  
"It's this big red button hidden in my mind. The way Chester explained it was that it would restore my brain to 'factory condition'. No personalities, no more Mal. We all pushed the button."  
"So that means..." Zoey said.  
"It means I killed them. I killed my four best friends." Mike said, finally starting to break down. "What is wrong with me?" He blubbered, Zoey looking sympathetically at him. "I'm a murderer!"  
"Mike, you're not a murderer." Zoey assured him. "They weren't real."  
"Yes they were." Mike said forcefully. "They had memories, some of mine, terrible ones, they even had their own! Manitoba's married, did you know that?" Zoey gaped, confused. "They had feelings and the only thing separating them from you or me is that they had no body." He said, angry. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He punched himself with every iteration of stupid. "Stupid, stupid, stu-" He was about to continue, before Zoey stopped him.  
"Mike, you are not stupid!" Zoey grabbed his hand and kept him from punching himself. "You had to push that button, and punching yourself won't bring them back."  
"But what if there was another way? Couldn't I have tried harder?" Mike said, lost in his panic, clutching his head. "I could have tried something, and then no one would be dead!" He began to hyperventilate rapidly.  
"Except me, probably. And all the other people Mal would have gone on to harm before you figured out your 'other way'." Zoey said firmly, squeezing Mike's shoulder.  
"Huh?" Mike stopped and turned to her.  
"I watched those videos Mal hid. He tried to kill almost everyone on the show at least once." Zoey said. "Luckily, he failed. He even tried to knock me off a cliff." She pointed to herself. "Mal would have won anyway, and then, well, he'd be a psychopath who had a million dollars and no morals holding him back. You did good."  
"He... He tried to kill you?" Mike stuttered, shocked and terrified at the possibility of losing his only girlfriend, or at least, the only one he had. "I-I'm so so sorry." He sobbed, already emotionally crippled, that sent him over the edge.  
"Mike, you didn't do anything." Zoey yelled. "It was all Mal!"  
"Yeah, but who made him?" Mike yelled back, fists clenched. "I did. I did and I filled him with all the things I couldn't handle. Every time my dad came home drunk, did I deal with it? No it was Mal. He took all the punches, and when he got sick of it, I just went and made Manitoba so I could escape. I hid behind them." He choked back the tears that were threatening to come out. "I use them as shields for five years and then I kill them!" He yelled. "What kind of horrible person does that! I'm not any better than he is, Zoey, I'm not a good person! Why can't you just accept that!" He shook her violently.  
"Mike..." Zoey looked like she was on the brink of tears herself.  
"Zoey, I'm-" Mike began to apologize for his outburst, but Zoey put a finger on his lips.  
"Deep breath in," Zoey smiled sweetly, instructing, removing her finger  
"Zoey, I don't think that will work..." Mike began, but Zoey gave him a stern stare. "Fine..." He took a deep breath and held it.  
"Now blow out the candle," She lifted her finger back up to Mike's lips, and he let his breath out. "Now how are you feeling?"  
"Shitty." Mike groaned.  
"That's an improvement." Zoey said, smiling softly. "Now, Mike, I don't know anything about MPD besides what you've told me, but I can tell you, it was not out of cowardice." She said, Mike rolling his eyes.  
"Yes, it is!" Mike said. "What else do you call it when you make people up so they can be punching bags so you don't have to get hurt?"  
"A little kid coping with a terrible situation by creating imaginary friends." Zoey said. "You said 'we' pushed the button. That means they all gave up their lives willingly."  
"I shouldn't have let them!" Mike shouted, curling up in the fetal position again.  
"What was stopping them from forcing you to push it? Or from pushing it on their own?" Zoey said. "You really think that they didn't know this? They've been through hell for you, apparently, and you think they wouldn't give up their life to see you happy?" She sighed. "I don't know how it went down, but Vito, the most selfish and self serving guy ever agreed to push a button that would kill him. They wanted to do this, Mike!" She grabbed him and gave him a fierce hug, this time, Mike didn't resist. "They wouldn't want to have died just to have you be sitting here moping. They'll be a part of you now. Always." She kissed him on the lips, Mike melting into her arms.  
"You-you're right." Mike stopped the kiss, smiling ruefully. "I'm sorry for being so stupid. It's just so hard being alone in here." He tapped his head.  
"You're not alone, Mike." Zoey smiled.  
"But I don't have my per-" He said, but was cut off by another kiss.  
"You've got me, don't you?" She smiled, embracing him.  
"Y'know, I don't feel so alone anymore." Mike said, and they laid down on the bed together, simply enjoying the warm touch of each other's bodies. And although Mike knew he would miss his friends, he felt like he was going to be just fine.  
After all, he's not alone.

AN; Ok, this is my first attempt at serious drama, so be kind, ok? I absolutely loved the finale, it was just so beautiful, and I don't think anything will ever change that. I actually cried. So I wrote a little conclusion for this. Mike's a little OOC, but the circumstances kind of justify it. This isn't the end though, unless you want it to be. Because I miss his personalities so much, I'm going to be writing a little epilogue bringing them back. But because that kind of ruins this poignant ending, you have the choice to ignore it and say this is where the story ends. It's all up to you.


End file.
